Renewable Energy - Opportunities For Growth?

The growth of the renewable energy sector could provide forward-thinking farmers with ample opportunities.

Around the world, the renewable energy sector is growing in importance. As it develops, like all fledgling sectors, a number of growing pains invariably crop up along the way.

Government policies are becoming more refined and sophisticated to encourage the relevant sectors to meet targets or resolve national or European issues. For example, the European target for the UK to achieve 20% of energy from renewables by 2020 is much higher than the 2% currently achieved. And it is increasingly likely that the majority of this will be for electricity production; the UK will have to generate in excess of a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, up from the present 5%.